


A night at the cinema

by Moloko_and_cookies



Series: Ineffable [4]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fluff, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-24 21:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moloko_and_cookies/pseuds/Moloko_and_cookies
Summary: Aziraphale hasn't been in a cinema for almost a century. Crowley decides to fix that and invite him to watch a film.





	A night at the cinema

What can an angel and a demon do on a rainy autumn afternoon? Crowley weighed the different options he could think of while he played lazily with Aziraphale’s golden locks. Every now and then, the angel caressed and kissed his hand. The angel’s face evidenced the state of pure bliss in which he was: he was lying comfortably on the sofa, using Crowley’s thighs as a pillow while he read a book in the dim light of the antique lamps and the fireplace in the back of his bookshop, one of Beethoven’s sonatas played on an old-fashioned record player and there were two cocoa cups on the table —one of them, Aziraphale’s, was already empty while the other one was still half full and had gone cold because Crowley had totally forgotten about it—. Outside, the rain poured heavily against the windows, accompanied by the occasional thunders that made everything vibrate and the following flashes of lightning that lit the black sky for a couple of seconds. Only a few people dared to walk the streets under that weather. For Aziraphale, it was the perfect afternoon to stay cosy at home with cocoa, a book, soft classical music and his loved one; Crowley, on the contrary preferred to spend the afternoon on a different kind of amusement.

“Angel, I was thinking…” Aziraphale closed the book and looked up to the demon, while he continued talking, still tangling his fingers in the angel’s hair. “We’ve never gone to the cinema, have we? Together, I mean.”

“I don’t think so, my dear.” Aziraphale answered and lifted his hand to caress Crowley’s cheek. “Are you asking me out on a date?” His angelic smile widened, making Crowley’s heart flutter.

“Do you think it’s a date? Angel, we’ve been seeing each other for centuries now. I’m not sure it counts as a…”

“That’s what I think, but Madame Tracy said that it’s different. Apparently, it’s different going out and friends and as… something else.” His cheeks flushed as he said that. “She said you would ask sooner or later, unless I did it first.” As Aziraphale talked, Crowley’s eyes opened with confusion. “Oh… Let me explain, my dear. She was so kind, lending me her body —by the way; she advised me that this could be misinterpreted by humans who don’t know that angels and demons exist and possessions are possible—. I wanted to thank her properly, so I invited her for to a cup of tea and biscuits —she bakes delicious biscuits, my dear—, and we had a lovely afternoon. I gave her a book too, one about Spiritism.” The last sentence made Crowley smile. If Aziraphale had given Madame Tracy a book, it meant that he was really grateful for what she had done. However, he made a gesture so Aziraphale went to the important part of the story. “The thing is… I think she noticed something between us the day we met and she asked me if we were dating. I didn’t understand, so she explained the concept to me —she also said that the cinema is a typical place for a date, hence why I asked you before— and… well, I think we are dating, indeed.” There was a little giggle in the angel’s voice as he told the story, like young human man talking about his first dates with someone he liked very much. And that was exactly what was happening to Aziraphale, except he was not young, nor human, nor a man, actually.

Crowley listened to Aziraphale attentively. He had never thought about their relationship in human terms; how could he, considering that both he and Aziraphale were two supernatural entities older than the human race? Things were very different for them, since they were immortal and didn’t need to think too much about the future, so they could allow themselves the pleasure of letting things grow slowly. They did not need to make plans about the things that usually worried human couples, like marriage or children. As a result, the idea of choosing a label for their relationship had never crossed their minds and establishing in which stage the relationship was did not have much importance either. Enjoying life together and loving each other freely after six thousand years was more than enough for them. However, it was understandable that any human who saw Aziraphale and Crowley together would quickly assume that they were seeing a couple on a date, especially if they payed attention to the way the angel and the demon talked and looked at each other. It was interesting knowing those kinds of things; anyway, at least it would help them live among humans without being noticed.

“Maybe we should say that if someone asks… It will be easier for them to understand.” Crowley reflected. Aziraphale agreed, nodding with his eyes closed, his lips curved in a sweet smile as he enjoyed Crowley’s caresses on his head. “Anyway… I asked you about cinema… Do you want to go or not, angel?” Aziraphale nodded again. “Remember when we were in my car and you asked me about the music and I told you about Queen? Well, there’s a film about them now. It’s called _Bohemian Rhapsody_ , like the song. I’d love to see it and you could really learn a bit of the history of contemporary music.”

Aziraphale sat up next to Crowley, his hands resting on his knees as they usually did, and accepted enthusiastically. “It sounds fascinating, my dear. We are going to the cinema! I haven’t been in a cinema since the 1920’s… I believe things have changed a bit since then.” Crowley lifted and eyebrow. So, Aziraphale hadn’t been in a cinema for almost a century… It was not actually surprising, considering that he lived surrounded by old books, had the fashion sense of an early 20th century man and thought that The Velvet Underground was bebop. The poor angel was going to be shocked when he discovered that films had sound and colour. Not to talk about science-fiction and special effects. It was going to be funny helping him catch up with all those advances, Crowley thought. “And it’s always nice to try doing new things, especially with you.”

Aziraphale and Crowley were not the only ones who had decided to spend the evening at the cinema. Since it was raining, there were not many other options, so apparently half of the population of London was queueing at the entrance of the cinema. It would be almost impossible to get two tickets for the film. Luckily, a couple who waited right before Crowley and Aziraphale decided that they did not really feel like watching a film. There might have been a little miracle involved in that sudden change of mind; they would never know, but a certain angel wished for them to have a lovely evening at the theatre. And they did.

Another miracle had to be performed, this time by a mildly annoyed demon, to make the queue move faster. After almost twenty minutes, Crowley and Aziraphale found themselves comfortably seated, waiting for the film to start with a box of sweet popcorn and something to drink while people slowly filled the room. Aziraphale had never tried popcorn before, so he was very excited about it. Almost as excited as he was about the chocolate and candy he had bought. Crowley, on the contrary, preferred to take only a handful of popcorn from Aziraphale every once in a while.

“Angel, have you already finished the popcorn? Really, have you eaten the whole box? The film hasn’t even started yet!” Crowley exclaimed when he found the box almost empty. He tried hard not to laugh at the angel’s reaction, almost as surprised as his own.

“They are tasty… the mix of sweet and salty…” Someone shushed at Aziraphale because the film was already starting. “I’ll miracle more, if you want, my dear Crowley.” He added in a whisper, and suddenly the box was full again. It was his second miracle in less than an hour, but he did not care at all.

With the lights off Crowley could barely see the angel’s face but apparently he was enjoying the film. Every now and then, Crowley turned to the angel or looked at him out of the corner of his eye, just to see him totally mesmerised by the film and the music. Aziraphale did not take his eyes off the screen and only talked a few times, just to tell Crowley that he remembered hearing the songs in the Bentley but with a different title. “I thought you had told me this was composed by Tchaikovsky…” he murmured in Crowley’s ear while they listened to _Fat-bottomed girls,_ which made Crowley hiss with a bit of embarrassment as he remembered jokingly telling Aziraphale that all the songs the Bentley played had been written by classical musicians. He had been caught, although Aziraphale did not show any disapproval.

Soon, the angel’s hand crawled upon Crowley’s and their fingers intertwined, almost unconsciously. Crowley clutched Aziraphale’s hand lovingly. What a silly thing, holding hands while watching a film at the cinema. And yet, it made them feel something special. Both Aziraphale and Crowley admitted —although they didn’t say it out loud— that humans had a point about the romantic potential of cinemas. It was so intimate, despite the fact that they were surrounded by people. Being in the dark, in silence, was somehow ‘inspiring’, even when they were looking at the screen and not paying attention to each other.

Towards the end of the film, Crowley saw the glistening trail of a tear rolling down Aziraphale’s cheek and quickly lifted his hand to wipe it; then he put his arm around the angel’s shoulders and kissed his cheek, comforting him. He knew how sensitive Aziraphale was —outcome of being an angel— and taking care of him whenever he felt overwhelmed wasn’t really hard for Crowley.

“Is everything alright, angel?” Crowley whispered. Aziraphale nodded, as he wiped his fogged glasses with the corner of his jacket. 

Finally, the film ended and people started to walk towards the exit, some of them staring curiously at the weird man who had not taken his sun glasses off during the film. Who the hell wears dark glasses at the cinema? Neither Crowley nor Aziraphale noticed, though, despite being the centre of everyone’s attention. They were so used to Crowley wearing the glasses everywhere —except in Aziraphale’s bookshop and his own house— they did not realise that people stared at them cautiously but with curiosity.

“How was it, angel?” Crowley asked as soon as they were out of the cinema, throwing his arm around Aziraphale’s shoulder. It had stopped raining, so they could walk towards the car. “Did you like our _date_?”

“It was different… but pleasant; more than pleasant, actually. I should go to the cinema more often… I mean, _we_ should go to the cinema more often. I liked it as much as having dinner with you. And the music… now I understand why you like it so much.” And he meant it. Aziraphale was glad he had accepted going with Crowley; now he knew him a bit more, which seemed almost impossible since the had been friends for such a long time before things changed between them.

“Perhaps we could make a new arrangement, now that the old one doesn’t make sense anymore.” They were already in the car, heading back to the bookshop as fast as Crowley could —perhaps a bit faster, he had to admit, but not as fast as he would like because Aziraphale was with him—. As he talked, the demon drove without looking at the road. His eyes, or the dark lenses of the glasses, were fixed on Aziraphale, who was still a bit nervous when the demon did that. “I could read your books, and you could listen to my music.”

“I will.” Aziraphale’s voice shook a bit, because of the speed. No matter how many times he travelled in the car with Crowley, the demon’s driving skills would always make him react as though he was about to crash into something. “I have started, actually. Now I know that The Velvet Underground isn’t bebop.”

Crowley stopped in front of the bookshop and leaned to kiss the angel before getting out of the car.

“Then I guess that I have to read…” Crowley sighed. “I could start now, what do you think? Shall we read together? We can call it a reading date.”

“I think I’ve got the perfect book for that…” Aziraphale started to run excitedly around the bookshop. He shuffled the books, leaving some of them on his desk, while talked to himself and sometimes to Crowley, who waited for him in the sofa until he got bored and put his arms around the angel’s waist and pulled him closer, throwing him on the sofa.

“Stop, angel. Any of these is perfect; I just want to read something you like with you.”

“Then, we’ll read this one.” Aziraphale had chosen a poetry book. “I don’t mean to be corny, but poetry sounds better when you read it out loud…”

Crowley, still hugging Aziraphale’s waist, gestured impatiently, asking the angel to start. Soon, Aziraphale’s clear voice filled the air as he recited the first poem without actually reading it, Crowley noticed. What he ignored was that Aziraphale knew it by heart because he had read it thousands of times, while he imagined himself saying those words to his beloved demon.


End file.
